Topics

The hometown reporter waited to talk to Jared Cowen about being a healthy scratch last game. The visiting scribes wanted to ask him about his hit on Pavel Datsyuk last weekend that still has the Detroit Red Wings star on the sidelines.

First things, first.

"I was pissed, I was mad, I was what everyone would feel if they got healthy scratched," said Cowen, the ninth overall pick in 2009, whose struggles finally led him to a seat in the press box for Thursday's visit by the Vancouver Canucks. "I haven't been a healthy scratch before.

"But that's what happens when a team doesn't do well ... a bunch of individuals make up a team, so you've got to take care of different guys and make sure they're playing well. I understand it."

Cowen wasn't completely caught off guard by coach Paul MacLean's decision to have him sit one out.

"We've talked before ... surprised? A little bit," he said. "But not totally surprised. Things like this happen when you're not playing to your full potential, or the team isn't.

"I'm not naïve. I know what's going on."

No one else is quite sure why the 22-year-old defenceman hasn't progressed as projected. Likely it's a combination of his youth, the ups and downs that come with his lack of experience (115 NHL games), the pressure of expectations he and the team have after Cowen was a training camp holdout before finally signing a four-year, $12.4 million deal in September, and the time he has missed with two major surgeries over the last three seasons.

Asked if he believes the time looking at a game from a spot in the rafters helped, he stifled a chuckle.

"I've watched a lot of hockey in the last year ... it's not like I haven't watched a game in a long time," said Cowen. "I know what it's like, the different view you get. The views you guys have too. Everything seems a lot slower up there. It's different when you get down here though."

Whether he plays against Detroit Sunday was still to be determined, but Cowen said he just has to be better "all round" when he does suit up.

"There's nothing specifically, I just want everything to be better," he said. "That's just the way I am. Can't really pick one thing because I'll have other things in my back pocket I'll want to fix too. I think it's just being more comfortable, knowing the plays I can make and doing it. Not worrying about the mistakes or the outcome. Just worry about my own job and doing it."

Datsyuk, meanwhile, will miss his fourth game with the expected concussion he suffered when caught in the chin by Cowen's elbow last weekend in Detroit.

"I feel bad he got hurt," said Cowen. "I didn't mean to. It was one of those quick plays you just kind of try to get a bump on him before he got back to the net. Didn't feel it was that hard. Never really hit a guy in the face with an elbow before. It was an accident."

Cowen reflecting with his time off the ice

The hometown reporter waited to talk to Jared Cowen about being a healthy scratch last game.

The visiting scribes wanted to ask him about his hit on Pavel Datsyuk last weekend that still has the Detroit Red Wings star on the sidelines.

First things, first.

"I was pissed, I was mad, I was what everyone would feel if they got healthy scratched," said Cowen, the ninth overall pick in 2009, whose struggles finally led him to a seat in the press box for Thursday's visit by the Vancouver Canucks. "I haven't been a healthy scratch before.